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neko_kirin3104Title: Captain Chesuto and the Underpants of Doom (1/8)
Group/Main Pairing: Arashi/Yama Pair (Ohno/Sho)
Prompts: fail!superhero Sho and Tomoyasu Hotei’s Battle Without Honor or Humanity
Word Count: 6499
Rating: NC-17 (for this chapter)
Genre: Superhero AU/Humor/Romance
Summary: Sho Sakurai is about to become a superhero. God save the rest of us.
Note: written for the Jukebox Roulette Ficcon @![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
murasakinoyume.
Warnings: mentions of minor character death, evil!Nino, sexual situation in this chapter, and sporadic silliness all around xD
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2
The fight did not really come as a surprise, but every turn it took was a kick to the balls none of them would’ve expected.
A cold morning. A brand new Monday. And a life-and-death scuffle between two masked, tuxedoed men on top of the most prominent building in the city. Really, how much worse could this day get?
The man in black barely had time to catch his breath before he was back-flipping and sprinting away again from the merciless barrage of deathly rays aimed at his path.
It wasn’t like he had not signed up for this. He had. To an extent.
But things had seriously gone far beyond that extent by now.
His white-clad opponent charged again, grunting in annoyance this time, one angry fist aimed at his face. He dodged to the side and managed to sprint a few steps before the snarling fiend tackled him to the ground.
The deranged man seemed more reckless now: attacking without forethought, defenses mindlessly forgotten. He could jab a finger right into that bare throat and be done with this in a second.
If the situation were any different, this fight would never have even begun. But there’s a lot more at stake here now than mere winning. A lot more than life or death could even begin to define.
They rolled, they punched, and tried to push at each other; his opponent landing more hits than he could block. More than he’s willing to. He grunted as each strike connected with more strength than precision, marking his skin and drawing out blood everywhere else. He struggled against the weight on top of him. A hard fist slammed against his face, dribbling his head on the ground.
There’s something purely vicious and unfeeling in the villain’s bloodshot gaze. The hits came without let up, and the pain he felt kept cutting deeper and deeper than the surface damage he had already sustained, was still taking almost willingly. He swung a blind fist and cuffed his opponent in the jaw, earning himself that split-second he needed to shove the man off and jump back to his feet.
He hadn’t thought he stood a chance to begin with. He still didn’t think he did so now that both of them were nearing their limits. There were fragmented concrete everywhere. Blood splatters covered the ground. A thin layer of dust swirled in the cold air frolicking in the Mago Mago Tower rooftop. They had been swinging at each other for only a few minutes, but it sure felt like an entire lifetime had already passed, had shattered all around them.
He couldn’t let this go on any longer than it already had.
He kept his eyes on his opponent as he felt for the metal pouch on his waist. His chest heaved with each labored breath as he suddenly found himself in that dreadful, dreadful moment when he started regretting not having said everything he wanted to say to the one person who mattered, all because he was right here, doing something foolish like saving everyone else instead.
His chest clenched tightly, almost cutting his breath, as he gripped the device inside his pouch. His sole weapon. His last resort.
And his heart finally crumbled at the reality that hit him squarely in the face.
There’s no use denying it now. No amount of optimism could save him this time.
The early morning breeze stung his eyes as he began to charge.
Only one of them was going to survive this fight...
Sho Sakurai
Alumnus, Hattori University
I think children are the most invincible beings on earth.
Sure, they cry over the littlest things and get frightened by the most illogical thoughts.
But where would we all be if it weren’t for those children doing all their best to triumph over their worst fears, their worst heartbreaks?
There are successful adults today, because there were brave children yesterday who might have been afraid of a lot of things, but who also just kept standing back up and looking forward to a better tomorrow, a brighter future.
When (hopefully) everything wouldn’t seem too big and too daunting anymore.
That’s just what I think.
I wouldn’t really know since I have no memory of my childhood.
Nothing at all. Not even the vaguest image of how my life might have been like back then.
I have a very clear memory of the past ten years, though.
Right from when I woke up at 13 on a hospital bed in Tempest General, with nothing but this numbing silence in my head.
I was told I was lucky that the accident didn’t completely paralyze my brain.
And I knew they meant well.
But they would never really understand how much worse it was for me to be alive with nothing to look back on—
No childhood dreams to remember.
Not even a hint of the passionate flame I might’ve had in my young and naive heart.
No happy memories. No sad memories.
No wise and inspiring lessons learned.
Nothing.
I felt dead on my feet, an empty vessel.
Not even the most vivid stories of my past could incite the tiniest spark of recognition in my head.
I felt lost and frustrated for a while.
But I also didn’t want to make things any worse than they already were for both me and the people who cared for me.
So I did the next best thing.
I stopped obsessing over the things I have already lost and focused instead on creating new ones to replace them.
Build new memories.
Find new dreams.
Light a stronger flame to fill my teenage heart with renewed passion.
Be like a child again and believe that I am capable of anything.
Anything at all that I can think of, I can definitely do.
Ten years gave me enough time to get my life back on track. Well, almost.
But it also only took ten years for me to grow up and reach adulthood—
The age when you begin to see the big picture, and realize you’re just a tiny blot of color in it all along.
That, whether you like it or not, your life is connected to everyone else’s.
That this world is made of much bigger stuffs than just you and your dreams.
Suddenly, you have to conform and meet expectations.
Take responsibility for things you never even cared all that much for before.
Marvel at how much the voices in your heart have changed to synchronize with another person’s heartbeat, and eventually, hopefully, find a different kind of fulfillment from everybody else’s hopes and dreams.
Because little by little you’ll begin to realize that it’s not just about you anymore.
And sometimes, you really just have to grow up and deal with that....
You can’t possibly be a child forever.
There isn’t really much you can think of when you’re falling 200 feet in the air. Except that you’re going to die, but that’s probably a given.
Unless, by some miracle, you open your eyes and find yourself back in your bed this morning, sighing and thanking the gods for what turned out to be just a very, very bad dream.
Sho Sakurai had already tried doing that.
And still, he kept falling.
Shit! he screamed in his head as the truth of his impending end rushed up to meet his face. He had never thought the sidewalks in Tempest City could look this daunting.
Maybe coming back home wasn’t such a good idea after all...
Twenty-eight hours ago...
Sho had not been expecting anything extravagant. No parties. No banners and streamers.
Definitely no live bands.
He had only been gone for four years anyway. That wasn’t such a big deal, right?
At the very least, a simple Congratulations! would’ve sufficed. He would’ve chosen that hands down (and feet down) over being repeatedly tossed around, wrong side up, in 175 feet of open air like an unwilling puppet on loose strings.
“NOOOOOO!!!!!”
Although he had been assured that the attendants at Pai Mei Bridge were efficient enough to know what they were doing, Sho still did not trust the bungee cord to hold his weight at all. He trusted it even less to sustain the combined weights of two grown men.
Not that he was feeling particularly grown up at the moment. Nor did he have a better opinion of the man strapped to him at the waist.
Satoshi Ohno had been doing nothing but hoot and cackle like this was the most exciting thing he had ever done his entire life. The terrified screams that had been spilling out of Sho’s mouth would beg to differ.
“SATOSHI!!! YOU BASTAAAARD!!!!”
The air whistled in his ears, filling his head with a vacuum that threatened to neutralize his brain completely. He didn’t care if he sounded like his insides were getting yanked out of his ass, or that his voice was reaching octaves way past manly. He just wanted this to end before he ended up peeing in his pants and embarrassing himself any more than he was already doing.
Each upward tug made him feel like he was going to burst in all directions. At every subsequent drop, he felt like he was going to hurl.
Take-chan, one of the previous attendants here, once told him how bungee jumping was a lot like making love. He had been seventeen then and only had vague impressions of how he thought making love felt like. It shouldn’t be much different from wanking himself, right? Only without the desolate after-feel. Or so he hoped.
None of those impressions resembled anything he was feeling right now. He was sure he’d faint afterwards even before he could start feeling desolate.
“Please stop...! Please stop...! Please stop...!” he kept muttering on and on as the aerial bounces dwindled into smaller loops, much smaller arcs, until they were finally just swaying through the air over the Hanzo River. Breaths heavy. Arms wrapped around each other. Muddled brain cells struggling to fit right back into their proper places.
And it was only then that Sho began to realize how close he and Satoshi were to each other. How tight the man was holding him, keeping him together, mumbling stupid things into his ears—
“You’ve done well, little chipmunk.”
Whether Satoshi meant to say that about the jump, or about him graduating and getting his degree, or maybe even about him surviving the last four years without Satoshi in his life, mattered very little at this point.
It didn’t even bother Sho that Satoshi had called him by that annoying nickname, or that they were hanging upside down, or that he’s starting to feel the strain of it on his ankles—
“Move back in with me, Sho-chan. We’ll make it better this time, okay?”
Try as he might to keep himself together, Sho’s carefully guarded composure still crumbled at those words.
And what was supposed to be a resounding, “Yes,” came out as a strangled sob instead.
The tears would come much later on, though. When Sho’s right side up again (for the most part anyway) and he and Satoshi had warmed up their bed enough to cover all the years that they had been apart.
Because Sho at twenty-three said he was ready. And Satoshi wasn’t insane to hold himself back after waiting for so long. All that excess adrenaline from their jump this afternoon just made it harder for them to keep their hands off of each other, too.
There had been something both familiar and unfamiliar about all of it. Like a dream Sho had had a dozen times before, only this time the sights and sounds were more vivid. The movements and feelings, more intense. The man he had only been imagining before was actually with him now, looking more dream-like in reality than he ever did in Sho’s mind.
Satoshi started them out nice and slow, knowing full well that everything about tonight was going to be Sho’s first time. Taking both pride and responsibility for it. His kisses were soft and gentle, but never unsure, patiently drawing Sho out of his reservations with each careful press of lips, each teasing glide of tongue. It all made Sho’s heart swell, the rest of his body flushed and pounding with anticipation.
Satoshi’s hands worked Sho’s body up to a feverish surrender, his palms and fingers warm and unhurried, but never lost. Like he knew just where to touch, where to rub and pinch, how and when, to gradually draw Sho out of his doubts, his fears. The man was never forceful, even as his breath began to hitch with barely restrained want. He let Sho find his own pace, followed Sho’s unspoken cues, never did more than what Sho was ready to take at any given point, and whispered reassurances at the slightest hint of hesitation.
He never told Sho they could stop at anytime. Sho knew he wouldn’t have wanted to.
Sho let his hands glide over Satoshi’s body as soon as their shirts came off. The man felt warm and taut in his hands; muscles well defined and compact. Sho heard a moan from deep within his chest as a burning need to press up to Satoshi consumed him. Sho lost his pants within the same minute. His trunks within the next couple more. He felt exposed, vulnerable, but clearer than he had ever been about what he wanted. And Satoshi, his own intentions fully bared, was only too happy to comply.
Sho held his breath as one lubed finger slipped into him, his muscles constricting at once around the cold and unfamiliar sensation. Satoshi told him to relax. He let out his breath and tried to do just that. Satoshi kept his gaze on Sho as another finger slid right in. Again, the man said, “Relax, Sho-chan,” while rubbing his thigh. And again, Sho did his best to calm his breath. Satoshi’s fingers did not begin to move until the crease on Sho’s forehead had smoothened out.
It’s starting to feel a little uncomfortable down there. Too many sensations, too much of Sho’s mind pooling into that one area of his body. He ached to touch himself and did. Too far gone to even feel embarrassed about it. Satoshi grabbed his wrist when he became too aggressive with himself. “Not yet.” The man probed him several more times, the tips of his long fingers brushing something inside Sho that almost completely took Sho out of his mind. His moans were coming from a much deeper part of him now, more guttural and raw.
They looked into each other’s eyes when Satoshi’s fingers dug into Sho’s hips and he finally eased himself into Sho for the first time. The lingering scent of the strawberry-flavored lube was oddly soothing. Sho hardly felt the pain of the first few thrusts, and quickly lost himself in the mind-shattering sensations of the next few more. He reached down and wrapped a hand around himself again as every muscle in his body tensed up and tightened. His breath came out in short gasps as he neared the edge.
Eyes rolling back into his head, Sho spilled himself all over his hand, whimpering through his release. Satoshi himself moaned into Sho’s neck and let go, throbbing and spilling his own warmth into Sho.
It was when Satoshi collapsed on top of Sho, their bodies shuddering with each forceful breath, and right after three simple words had tickled Sho’s ears, making his whole body quiver anew, that the tears finally came. And Sho wasn’t even feeling anywhere near desolate—
“I love you...”
Take-chan did say that making love could make some people cry, too. Sho Sakurai was clearly one of those people.
Satoshi Ohno was a strange sort of man. But that was only partly his fault. He had apparently been in the same car accident that Sho was involved in ten years ago. And while that accident wiped out thirteen years’ worth of memories from Sho’s mind, it was pitiless enough to take something away from Satoshi, too.
When Sho woke up the following morning to the sight of a bruise the size of a fist on Satoshi’s back, he freaked out and shook Satoshi awake like their bed was on fire. Satoshi nearly fell over the edge in his panic, then laughed like he thought Sho was insane.
“It’s just a bruise, Sho-chan. I already had it checked up.”
“Where’d you get it?”
“I’m not sure.” Satoshi shrugged and stood up. “Not from last night, though. I remember all of last night.” His lover smirked at him before heading for the bathroom in the buff.
Sho flushed but refused to be distracted as he trudged after the man, pulling the blanket along to cover himself. “Are you sure nothing’s broken?” he practically gasped. Where had all the air in this room gone to?
“Eh? Does it look like something’s broken?” Satoshi checked his back on the sink mirror. “Aya-chan said it’s just a bruise. Nothing to worry about.” He grabbed Sho’s face and kissed the hyperventilating man’s nose. “I don’t want you to work yourself up over things like this again. Okay?”
Sho tried to calm himself with a deep breath, but his heart just kept inching up his throat. Aya Ueto was a newly licensed nurse and one of the people Sho had entrusted to look after Satoshi before he left. Though, she could probably say, “It’s just a bruise” herself, and it would still not pacify Sho.
And it wouldn’t be her fault. It was just that, seeing any sign of injury on Satoshi, even the tiniest bead of blood from a pinprick, had always thrown Sho’s mind back, blind and trembling with dread, to when Satoshi was fifteen, just a week after the boy had woken up from a month long coma following the accident.
They had been biking at Hikaru Park then. Sho said he had to go back home for a while to pee, and Satoshi had chanted a rude double entendre in response “Sho-chan’s going back home to pee! Because Sho-chan’s a prude who won’t do it in the trees!” over and over until Sho was out of earshot, and was annoyed enough to decide not to come back for his friend anymore.
Satoshi got back home after an hour, bleeding from a head wound and grinning like he didn’t care. He said he fell off his bike, but that it was nothing. He wasn’t hurting anywhere. Sho had screamed for Satoshi’s designated driver, Yama-chan, to take them to the hospital, where they eventually found out that his friend had pedaled the three-minute distance from the park to the mayoral residence on a broken leg, a cracked rib, and a gash on his head that would have rendered anybody else unconscious. Still, the dumbass had kept insisting he was okay, even as the utterly freaked out Sho almost died for the both of them.
He became Satoshi’s external pain receptor after that incident, and nothing short of the apocalypse could drag him away from his friend. Even as Satoshi took to the daredevil’s path with what the reckless boy seriously thought was a superpower, Sho had stuck around. Screaming his guts along the way, but holding on tightly. Trying to drill some sense back into Satoshi’s head, but always somehow ending up on the wrong end of a bungee cord, a parachute, or whatever other vicious contraptions that might just decide, one day, to snap and slingshot him into a super-sized Rorschach blot on the ground.
Even after he left to study in O-Ren City, he had not stopped thinking about Satoshi. He spent all the extras he earned from working part-time at Ogura’s Grill on phone cards to constantly check-up on the man through their friends. Becky had always been accommodating. Ai Haruna had taken much pleasure in scolding him each time. Masaki Aiba had hardly been coherent late at night. And Aya’s husband, Hiro, thinking his wife was having questionable affairs with Sho, had once threatened to wring his neck if he didn’t stop calling.
Coming home just gave his mind reason to fall back into his old habits. Fall back into them flat and crawling on his face.
Sometimes, he did wonder what kind of spell Satoshi had put on him—
“Wanna get in the shower with me?”
And then there were those times when it didn’t matter whether he knew or not. He had always been helpless under Satoshi’s gaze. A bedroom gaze that clearly wasn’t taking ‘no’ for an answer was also not helping his case at all.
“No...” Sho clutched the blanket closer, gulping in his far-gone attempt to regain control of his own mind.
His lover slid the shower door open. “Get in, Sho-chan.”
Satoshi Ohno obviously knew about his one other superpower: the ability to neutralize any thoughts of defiance from Sho Sakurai’s mind.
He had only failed once. Sho had suffered the most for it. Four years had been long enough.
Spell or not, this had always been the way of things. And who was Sho to go against it?
He let the blanket fall and complied.
He had never known the showers in Tempest could feel just right.
Sho’s first memory after the accident was of the sight of Satoshi on the hospital bed, looking so serene in sleep he could’ve easily been mistaken for an angel, if not for the tubes attached to his body and the oxygen mask cupped on his face. It was the very first sight he imprinted on. The first and last to give his life purpose.
His lover had already left for his stage play rehearsal, but not before telling Sho to take it easy and just stay home. “Don’t make me have to tie you down, Sho-chan. Just relax. You deserve it.”
But Sho knew he could not relax until he found himself a job. He had tried being idle, but not even ten minutes had passed into a Tarantino movie before he was turning his laptop on and browsing through the want ads in Tempest. Working his body to a near-coma was the only thing he had ever indulged in, guilt-free. And bad habits, they say, are hard to break. Besides, this was the whole point of graduating, right?
He wasn’t going to deny that leaving for O-Ren was partly an attempt to run away from everything. His life with Satoshi had been a little too overwhelming in both good and bad ways. Because while he had always known that he wanted to be with nobody else but Satoshi, it didn’t really seem like Satoshi was that kind of man. And Satoshi had done nothing but rile him up to the very last nerve, until he’s asking himself why... Why does it have to be you, Satoshi?
But everything changed when he showed Satoshi the acceptance letter he received from Hattori University. The man suddenly stopped teasing him for being a scaredy-cat and a prude, and began treating him with something that could almost resemble interest. Satoshi made Sho breakfast in bed, dragged Sho out to lunch in the middle of his classes. The man would even slip out of his stage play rehearsals or movie shoots earlier so they could both go and do things that did not require putting their lives on the line.
On the night before Sho had to leave, Satoshi had set up a romantic dinner on top of the Mago Mago Tower, where he confessed to Sho under the stars, and then asked him to stay, “Please, Sho-chan... Please...”
Satoshi had sounded choked up then. Sho had never found himself in a tighter, more desperate embrace. For the first time he finally understood that Satoshi might not be able to feel physical pain—that the man might’ve turned into the biggest dickwad on earth because of it—but his insides were not made of steel. He could still feel pain on a much deeper level, where it drilled right through the heart, straight into the toughest layers of the soul.
But Sho didn’t stay. Although it ripped his heart apart, he still chose to leave. Because he also didn’t want to spend his entire life as Satoshi Ohno’s partner with nothing to speak of but his own name.
He’s back now, though. He had to give up a possibly prosperous career in the capital city, but he’s sure it was going to be worth it. There were just as many opportunities here in Tempest anyway. And if there weren’t, then at least he was where he knew he belonged.
Because if there was anything significant he learned while he was away, it was that graduating and getting a degree from his dream university had only made him half the man he wanted to be.
Being with Satoshi completed the other half. Sho was just glad it hadn’t been too late.
An ad for a teaching position at Tempest High caught his eyes. Yes. From now on, everything’s going to be just fine...
So how the hell did Sho Sakurai end up falling 200 feet in the air? Unsurprisingly enough, it was partly because of Satoshi (and mostly something else he couldn’t yet understand).
The Mago Mago Tower rooftop had always been an important part of Sho and Satoshi’s lives. The building was co-owned by Satoshi’s grandfather, who had been the incumbent mayor of Tempest City for the last eleven years, and who had also been Sho’s guardian since he could remember.
Satoshi moved out of the mayoral residence as soon as he turned eighteen, practically shoving Sho into a box to take along with him to his own unit, paid for in half with his own money and half by his grandfather’s goodwill.
But even though they had pretty much been inseparable since the accident, and Sho had pretty much given in to Satoshi’s every beck and call, and they had pretty much been living together like a typical couple minus all the fluff and sex, there had still been instances when the most trivial things would get in the way of their occasionally peaceful co-existence.
Like when Sho had gotten hooked on one after-school activity after another, coming home so late each night that Satoshi ended up barging into his choir practice one day to drag him out while bluntly telling him in front of everyone that he sounded like a frog who thought it could sing and that he’s really better off at home botching their dinner because he’s funniest that way.
Sho had never been able to show his face in that room since then.
There was also that time when Satoshi tried to sneak into Masahiro Matsuoka’s bar at sixteen, dragging a hyperventilating Sho along only to get a throbbing lump on their heads, each with Matsuoka’s name on it.
And instead of getting daunted and maybe learning a lesson or two, Satoshi just set his sights higher in retaliation and endeavored to infiltrate Junji Takada’s strip club the following year, with a hyperventilating Sho still in tow.
Takada had actually been lenient enough to let them stay. And it didn’t help at all that Satoshi in turn was horny enough to end up in bed with two women not much later on.
While Sho, in sharp contrast as always, had been unlucky enough to end up on his hands and knees in front of a towering foreign woman in an animal-print dress, begging with all his trembling heart and shriveling dick for his innocence to be spared.
The woman took quick mercy on him, read right through him and teased him the entire night about wanting to save himself for the man who was obviously making more than heads and hips roll in the other room for more times than was humanely possible. And they had to bear witness to all of it thanks to the paper thin walls, with the woman obviously enjoying Sho’s discomfort more than anything else.
But these were just flurries at the tip of the iceberg compared to all other instances of Satoshi Ohno acting mischievously, heedlessly, and heartlessly for the sake of drawing out the squeakiest, most overblown reactions from Sho, because the man had apparently taken on a rather twisted crusade to make hell out of Sho’s life for his own selfish cause—
”Whenever you squeak and scream and it almost hurts my head, you make me feel alive, Sho-chan.”
He had found refuge at the Mago Mago rooftop each time. And Satoshi had always followed him there, several minutes to an hour later, to try and calm him down.
Although Sho had never really liked high places, being on top of Mago Mago had always made him feel safe for some reason. Comforted and in control of his world for once. The concrete ledges weren’t high enough to keep him from keeling over at the slightest gust of wind, the faintest vibrations of the earth, but as long as he didn’t get too close to the edges, he knew he’d be fine.
He had always loved that spot behind the door where he could just sit and lean on the wall while looking out at the farthest horizon. Right where sky and ocean met. The sight of it had never failed to relax him. Reminding him just how big the world was, and how much breathing space there was in it, if he could just keep himself still for a moment and actually breathe.
The city nightscape looked awe-inspiring from up here, too. Almost magical, like it belonged to another world. The sparkle of lights reflected on the water, like pixie dusts rising up from the ocean floor, was especially mesmerizing. It was something he could share with Satoshi in silence as their breaths and heartbeats synched together. Until they could look at each other again, smile and know that staying angry was not only impossible, but was utterly ridiculous.
As soon as Satoshi jutted out his chin and began working through his funniest people and animal impressions; as soon as Sho’s boisterous laughter began pealing through the roof along with the crackling echoes of his gleeful claps, everything else would cease to matter. Satoshi didn’t even have to say he was sorry. Sho didn’t even feel like he needed it. And just like that, all was right in their world again.
They were here for a totally different reason tonight, though. Sho did not really understand why but he was suddenly feeling overwhelmed and literally out of breath right after spending the entire afternoon eating out and catching up with friends at the Kinki Kids Diner.
He might have just overstuffed himself with food and talk and laughter, which was so like him. The laughter was mostly because Aiba’s eleven-year-old housemate, Macchan, was there too, fresh out of his classes and as determined as he was four years ago to goof off and make Sho laugh until he’s close to peeing in his pants.
But then, that did not even begin to explain the confused lump of emotions that had slowly, but constantly been building up inside him all day, clogging up his chest and messing up with his head like vague images of a bad dream he did not even remember having.
He did remember feeling like this two days ago, right after he stepped out of the bus that took him back here. As though there was something he was supposed to feel bad about, but he had yet to remember what and why. It was gone before he could even try figuring it out. And he had pretty much forgotten about it until today.
Because now the feeling was more intense. Too real and too sharp to ignore. For some reason, he had started to feel like Satoshi was to blame for something. Everything. And that he was supposed to be doing something about it.
There was also the flitting voice inside his head, calling out his name every once in a while. He felt like he had already heard that voice before, but couldn’t really be sure where. And each time, the voice seemed to get clearer, angrier. Stronger. Like an alien instinct trying to take over his head.
He had come here at the rooftop to try and sort himself out. There must really be something seriously wrong with him if he was imagining voices in his head. What more feeling things he didn’t even have any reason at all to feel—
“Hey.” Satoshi slumped down beside him, grabbed him by the nape and gave him a quick kiss, making his heart race like it was the first time. He didn’t even realize until then that it was already dark and that Satoshi, as always, had come home on the dot like a conscientious husband.
His conscientious husband.
“How’s rehearsal?”
Satoshi shrugged and handed Sho a can of beer from the grocery bag he brought with him. “Okay, I guess.”
Sho reached out to brush a hand through his lover’s tousled blond hair. “Is this for the play?” He had never had the chance to ask the previous night.
Satoshi nodded. “I’ll dye it back to black right after.”
“I think it’s nice.” Running his fingers along the stubble on his lover’s chin, Sho added, “This feels nice, too.”
“Shall I keep them for a while then?” Satoshi looked at Sho like he was giving Sho full rights to decide on it.
And Sho frowned for a while like he was seriously considering it before finally exclaiming, “Keep!”
Their combined laughter pealed through the roof, just as it always did before. Especially after Satoshi showed Sho his newest impressions, of a squawking duck and a drowning monkey, and some of the more familiar ones that almost made Sho choke on his own giggles.
Then Satoshi suddenly stopped fooling around, shot him a piercing gaze that was at once begging and sultry and made him gulp for air. “What?”
Satoshi cupped a hand to his chin, rubbed a thumb to his lips and sent his heart racing with a whispered appeal; mild, breathy and desperate. “Don’t you ever run away again, okay?”
For a moment, Sho didn’t quite know what to say. He wanted to laugh because this was the first time he’s seeing Satoshi in this light and he was already thinking of how he could tease the man about it in the coming days.
But then there’s also the fact that he did have the tendency to just up and run and lose his chance at things he didn’t think he deserved. He’s since learned his lesson, though. “Okay...” He grinned and confidently met Satoshi’s eyes. “No more running, Satoshi-kun.”
For a moment Sho thought the vibrations he was feeling was coming from within him. After all, Satoshi did just give him another quick kiss that sent his heart racing a thousand beats per minute to a faint.
He barely heard the commotion that broke out from below—
The cacophony of screeching tires and blaring car horns that clearly spelled trouble.
The panicked screams that spread out like a pulse surge throughout the city, climbing up the floors of Mago Mago like wildfire.
Satoshi’s breath hitching like he had just seen a ghost.
Satoshi gasping out his name like he was the ghost.
Sho heard none of these at all. Nor was he able to figure out that the tremors under his ass were from the earthquake that had apparently been shaking up the entire city.
It was just like his consciousness was snuffed out for a brief moment right after he had just promised not to run away again.
Like a part of him was protesting such a mindless vow of consistency—
And he was hearing that voice again. Calling out to him from a much nearer place now.
And he was feeling those emotions, too. The ones that had no basis in his present.
And there was fire licking up his skin, building up in his veins. Prickling. Jolting. Frighteningly familiar—
“Sho-chan...!”
He blinked and barely had a second to realize how they had, for some reason, ended up standing on the edge of the rooftop, how he was gripping Satoshi’s shirt with both hands and how his lover was gawking at him and gripping his wrists with equal strength, before the tremors rippled up their legs and threw them off the ledge, straight into a 200-foot plunge.
The shock of the fall broke them apart.
This time, Sho only took a split-second to realize what just happened. Shit!
And then he started screaming.
Everything went by him in a rush as he fell down. Air was buzzing in his ears, hurting his eyes, knotting up his organs. 200 feet of vertical space dwindled into a certain, splattering death on concrete, and all Sho could think about was reaching out for Satoshi. Holding him close. Going through this together, if nothing else.
The ground came up to them in a dizzying rush. Sho reached out, grabbed Satoshi’s hand and somehow managed to pull his lover close. They held on to each other, as tightly as they did when they jumped off Pai Mei Bridge. There was that brief moment of dread when Sho realized there was no bungee cord that’s going to pull them back up this time.
Then he felt a sudden shift in the air. Like it was suddenly billowing around them, enclosing them in a space that was free from the overbearing pull of gravity.
He suddenly felt light. And in control.
A split-second before they hit concrete, a newly awakened instinct within him made Sho pull up. They sailed sideways off the ground before zooming back up into the skies, barely managing to land without sprawling on the rooftop.
The earthquake seemed to have stopped by now, but Sho’s whole body was still shaking too violently for him to really be sure. The emotions he didn’t get to feel while they were falling: the fear of death, the fear of losing Satoshi, the alarm and confusion over what he just did, what had just happened, gripped at Sho’s heart all at once and his mind just froze.
He vaguely sensed Satoshi behind him, gathering his trembling frame in a firm and possessive embrace. “It’s okay. It’s okay,” the man whispered, his voice cracking like he, too, was in tears.
It jolted Sho right back to the moment, gasping like he had just remembered how to breathe. His trembling sobs mixed with his heavy breaths as he clutched on and deflated in his lover’s arms. “S-Satoshi...”
“I’m never losing you again, Sho-chan...”
Next >>>>>
• Here's a mixtape of the songs that kept me company while I sprinted through this. xD
• Names of places and random references taken from the Kill Bill movies and some Arashi varieties and dramas.
Group/Main Pairing: Arashi/Yama Pair (Ohno/Sho)
Prompts: fail!superhero Sho and Tomoyasu Hotei’s Battle Without Honor or Humanity
Word Count: 6499
Rating: NC-17 (for this chapter)
Genre: Superhero AU/Humor/Romance
Summary: Sho Sakurai is about to become a superhero. God save the rest of us.
Note: written for the Jukebox Roulette Ficcon @
murasakinoyume. Warnings: mentions of minor character death, evil!Nino, sexual situation in this chapter, and sporadic silliness all around xD
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2
The fight did not really come as a surprise, but every turn it took was a kick to the balls none of them would’ve expected.
A cold morning. A brand new Monday. And a life-and-death scuffle between two masked, tuxedoed men on top of the most prominent building in the city. Really, how much worse could this day get?
The man in black barely had time to catch his breath before he was back-flipping and sprinting away again from the merciless barrage of deathly rays aimed at his path.
It wasn’t like he had not signed up for this. He had. To an extent.
But things had seriously gone far beyond that extent by now.
His white-clad opponent charged again, grunting in annoyance this time, one angry fist aimed at his face. He dodged to the side and managed to sprint a few steps before the snarling fiend tackled him to the ground.
The deranged man seemed more reckless now: attacking without forethought, defenses mindlessly forgotten. He could jab a finger right into that bare throat and be done with this in a second.
If the situation were any different, this fight would never have even begun. But there’s a lot more at stake here now than mere winning. A lot more than life or death could even begin to define.
They rolled, they punched, and tried to push at each other; his opponent landing more hits than he could block. More than he’s willing to. He grunted as each strike connected with more strength than precision, marking his skin and drawing out blood everywhere else. He struggled against the weight on top of him. A hard fist slammed against his face, dribbling his head on the ground.
There’s something purely vicious and unfeeling in the villain’s bloodshot gaze. The hits came without let up, and the pain he felt kept cutting deeper and deeper than the surface damage he had already sustained, was still taking almost willingly. He swung a blind fist and cuffed his opponent in the jaw, earning himself that split-second he needed to shove the man off and jump back to his feet.
He hadn’t thought he stood a chance to begin with. He still didn’t think he did so now that both of them were nearing their limits. There were fragmented concrete everywhere. Blood splatters covered the ground. A thin layer of dust swirled in the cold air frolicking in the Mago Mago Tower rooftop. They had been swinging at each other for only a few minutes, but it sure felt like an entire lifetime had already passed, had shattered all around them.
He couldn’t let this go on any longer than it already had.
He kept his eyes on his opponent as he felt for the metal pouch on his waist. His chest heaved with each labored breath as he suddenly found himself in that dreadful, dreadful moment when he started regretting not having said everything he wanted to say to the one person who mattered, all because he was right here, doing something foolish like saving everyone else instead.
His chest clenched tightly, almost cutting his breath, as he gripped the device inside his pouch. His sole weapon. His last resort.
And his heart finally crumbled at the reality that hit him squarely in the face.
There’s no use denying it now. No amount of optimism could save him this time.
The early morning breeze stung his eyes as he began to charge.
Only one of them was going to survive this fight...
~ Captain Chesuto and the Underpants of Doom ~
One: Swan Dive
Sho Sakurai
Alumnus, Hattori University
I think children are the most invincible beings on earth.
Sure, they cry over the littlest things and get frightened by the most illogical thoughts.
But where would we all be if it weren’t for those children doing all their best to triumph over their worst fears, their worst heartbreaks?
There are successful adults today, because there were brave children yesterday who might have been afraid of a lot of things, but who also just kept standing back up and looking forward to a better tomorrow, a brighter future.
When (hopefully) everything wouldn’t seem too big and too daunting anymore.
That’s just what I think.
I wouldn’t really know since I have no memory of my childhood.
Nothing at all. Not even the vaguest image of how my life might have been like back then.
I have a very clear memory of the past ten years, though.
Right from when I woke up at 13 on a hospital bed in Tempest General, with nothing but this numbing silence in my head.
I was told I was lucky that the accident didn’t completely paralyze my brain.
And I knew they meant well.
But they would never really understand how much worse it was for me to be alive with nothing to look back on—
No childhood dreams to remember.
Not even a hint of the passionate flame I might’ve had in my young and naive heart.
No happy memories. No sad memories.
No wise and inspiring lessons learned.
Nothing.
I felt dead on my feet, an empty vessel.
Not even the most vivid stories of my past could incite the tiniest spark of recognition in my head.
I felt lost and frustrated for a while.
But I also didn’t want to make things any worse than they already were for both me and the people who cared for me.
So I did the next best thing.
I stopped obsessing over the things I have already lost and focused instead on creating new ones to replace them.
Build new memories.
Find new dreams.
Light a stronger flame to fill my teenage heart with renewed passion.
Be like a child again and believe that I am capable of anything.
Anything at all that I can think of, I can definitely do.
Ten years gave me enough time to get my life back on track. Well, almost.
But it also only took ten years for me to grow up and reach adulthood—
The age when you begin to see the big picture, and realize you’re just a tiny blot of color in it all along.
That, whether you like it or not, your life is connected to everyone else’s.
That this world is made of much bigger stuffs than just you and your dreams.
Suddenly, you have to conform and meet expectations.
Take responsibility for things you never even cared all that much for before.
Marvel at how much the voices in your heart have changed to synchronize with another person’s heartbeat, and eventually, hopefully, find a different kind of fulfillment from everybody else’s hopes and dreams.
Because little by little you’ll begin to realize that it’s not just about you anymore.
And sometimes, you really just have to grow up and deal with that....
You can’t possibly be a child forever.
There isn’t really much you can think of when you’re falling 200 feet in the air. Except that you’re going to die, but that’s probably a given.
Unless, by some miracle, you open your eyes and find yourself back in your bed this morning, sighing and thanking the gods for what turned out to be just a very, very bad dream.
Sho Sakurai had already tried doing that.
And still, he kept falling.
Shit! he screamed in his head as the truth of his impending end rushed up to meet his face. He had never thought the sidewalks in Tempest City could look this daunting.
Maybe coming back home wasn’t such a good idea after all...
◄~ Ж ~►
Twenty-eight hours ago...
Sho had not been expecting anything extravagant. No parties. No banners and streamers.
Definitely no live bands.
He had only been gone for four years anyway. That wasn’t such a big deal, right?
At the very least, a simple Congratulations! would’ve sufficed. He would’ve chosen that hands down (and feet down) over being repeatedly tossed around, wrong side up, in 175 feet of open air like an unwilling puppet on loose strings.
“NOOOOOO!!!!!”
Although he had been assured that the attendants at Pai Mei Bridge were efficient enough to know what they were doing, Sho still did not trust the bungee cord to hold his weight at all. He trusted it even less to sustain the combined weights of two grown men.
Not that he was feeling particularly grown up at the moment. Nor did he have a better opinion of the man strapped to him at the waist.
Satoshi Ohno had been doing nothing but hoot and cackle like this was the most exciting thing he had ever done his entire life. The terrified screams that had been spilling out of Sho’s mouth would beg to differ.
“SATOSHI!!! YOU BASTAAAARD!!!!”
The air whistled in his ears, filling his head with a vacuum that threatened to neutralize his brain completely. He didn’t care if he sounded like his insides were getting yanked out of his ass, or that his voice was reaching octaves way past manly. He just wanted this to end before he ended up peeing in his pants and embarrassing himself any more than he was already doing.
Each upward tug made him feel like he was going to burst in all directions. At every subsequent drop, he felt like he was going to hurl.
Take-chan, one of the previous attendants here, once told him how bungee jumping was a lot like making love. He had been seventeen then and only had vague impressions of how he thought making love felt like. It shouldn’t be much different from wanking himself, right? Only without the desolate after-feel. Or so he hoped.
None of those impressions resembled anything he was feeling right now. He was sure he’d faint afterwards even before he could start feeling desolate.
“Please stop...! Please stop...! Please stop...!” he kept muttering on and on as the aerial bounces dwindled into smaller loops, much smaller arcs, until they were finally just swaying through the air over the Hanzo River. Breaths heavy. Arms wrapped around each other. Muddled brain cells struggling to fit right back into their proper places.
And it was only then that Sho began to realize how close he and Satoshi were to each other. How tight the man was holding him, keeping him together, mumbling stupid things into his ears—
“You’ve done well, little chipmunk.”
Whether Satoshi meant to say that about the jump, or about him graduating and getting his degree, or maybe even about him surviving the last four years without Satoshi in his life, mattered very little at this point.
It didn’t even bother Sho that Satoshi had called him by that annoying nickname, or that they were hanging upside down, or that he’s starting to feel the strain of it on his ankles—
“Move back in with me, Sho-chan. We’ll make it better this time, okay?”
Try as he might to keep himself together, Sho’s carefully guarded composure still crumbled at those words.
And what was supposed to be a resounding, “Yes,” came out as a strangled sob instead.
◄~ Ж ~►
The tears would come much later on, though. When Sho’s right side up again (for the most part anyway) and he and Satoshi had warmed up their bed enough to cover all the years that they had been apart.
Because Sho at twenty-three said he was ready. And Satoshi wasn’t insane to hold himself back after waiting for so long. All that excess adrenaline from their jump this afternoon just made it harder for them to keep their hands off of each other, too.
There had been something both familiar and unfamiliar about all of it. Like a dream Sho had had a dozen times before, only this time the sights and sounds were more vivid. The movements and feelings, more intense. The man he had only been imagining before was actually with him now, looking more dream-like in reality than he ever did in Sho’s mind.
Satoshi started them out nice and slow, knowing full well that everything about tonight was going to be Sho’s first time. Taking both pride and responsibility for it. His kisses were soft and gentle, but never unsure, patiently drawing Sho out of his reservations with each careful press of lips, each teasing glide of tongue. It all made Sho’s heart swell, the rest of his body flushed and pounding with anticipation.
Satoshi’s hands worked Sho’s body up to a feverish surrender, his palms and fingers warm and unhurried, but never lost. Like he knew just where to touch, where to rub and pinch, how and when, to gradually draw Sho out of his doubts, his fears. The man was never forceful, even as his breath began to hitch with barely restrained want. He let Sho find his own pace, followed Sho’s unspoken cues, never did more than what Sho was ready to take at any given point, and whispered reassurances at the slightest hint of hesitation.
He never told Sho they could stop at anytime. Sho knew he wouldn’t have wanted to.
Sho let his hands glide over Satoshi’s body as soon as their shirts came off. The man felt warm and taut in his hands; muscles well defined and compact. Sho heard a moan from deep within his chest as a burning need to press up to Satoshi consumed him. Sho lost his pants within the same minute. His trunks within the next couple more. He felt exposed, vulnerable, but clearer than he had ever been about what he wanted. And Satoshi, his own intentions fully bared, was only too happy to comply.
Sho held his breath as one lubed finger slipped into him, his muscles constricting at once around the cold and unfamiliar sensation. Satoshi told him to relax. He let out his breath and tried to do just that. Satoshi kept his gaze on Sho as another finger slid right in. Again, the man said, “Relax, Sho-chan,” while rubbing his thigh. And again, Sho did his best to calm his breath. Satoshi’s fingers did not begin to move until the crease on Sho’s forehead had smoothened out.
It’s starting to feel a little uncomfortable down there. Too many sensations, too much of Sho’s mind pooling into that one area of his body. He ached to touch himself and did. Too far gone to even feel embarrassed about it. Satoshi grabbed his wrist when he became too aggressive with himself. “Not yet.” The man probed him several more times, the tips of his long fingers brushing something inside Sho that almost completely took Sho out of his mind. His moans were coming from a much deeper part of him now, more guttural and raw.
They looked into each other’s eyes when Satoshi’s fingers dug into Sho’s hips and he finally eased himself into Sho for the first time. The lingering scent of the strawberry-flavored lube was oddly soothing. Sho hardly felt the pain of the first few thrusts, and quickly lost himself in the mind-shattering sensations of the next few more. He reached down and wrapped a hand around himself again as every muscle in his body tensed up and tightened. His breath came out in short gasps as he neared the edge.
Eyes rolling back into his head, Sho spilled himself all over his hand, whimpering through his release. Satoshi himself moaned into Sho’s neck and let go, throbbing and spilling his own warmth into Sho.
It was when Satoshi collapsed on top of Sho, their bodies shuddering with each forceful breath, and right after three simple words had tickled Sho’s ears, making his whole body quiver anew, that the tears finally came. And Sho wasn’t even feeling anywhere near desolate—
“I love you...”
Take-chan did say that making love could make some people cry, too. Sho Sakurai was clearly one of those people.
◄~ Ж ~►
Satoshi Ohno was a strange sort of man. But that was only partly his fault. He had apparently been in the same car accident that Sho was involved in ten years ago. And while that accident wiped out thirteen years’ worth of memories from Sho’s mind, it was pitiless enough to take something away from Satoshi, too.
When Sho woke up the following morning to the sight of a bruise the size of a fist on Satoshi’s back, he freaked out and shook Satoshi awake like their bed was on fire. Satoshi nearly fell over the edge in his panic, then laughed like he thought Sho was insane.
“It’s just a bruise, Sho-chan. I already had it checked up.”
“Where’d you get it?”
“I’m not sure.” Satoshi shrugged and stood up. “Not from last night, though. I remember all of last night.” His lover smirked at him before heading for the bathroom in the buff.
Sho flushed but refused to be distracted as he trudged after the man, pulling the blanket along to cover himself. “Are you sure nothing’s broken?” he practically gasped. Where had all the air in this room gone to?
“Eh? Does it look like something’s broken?” Satoshi checked his back on the sink mirror. “Aya-chan said it’s just a bruise. Nothing to worry about.” He grabbed Sho’s face and kissed the hyperventilating man’s nose. “I don’t want you to work yourself up over things like this again. Okay?”
Sho tried to calm himself with a deep breath, but his heart just kept inching up his throat. Aya Ueto was a newly licensed nurse and one of the people Sho had entrusted to look after Satoshi before he left. Though, she could probably say, “It’s just a bruise” herself, and it would still not pacify Sho.
And it wouldn’t be her fault. It was just that, seeing any sign of injury on Satoshi, even the tiniest bead of blood from a pinprick, had always thrown Sho’s mind back, blind and trembling with dread, to when Satoshi was fifteen, just a week after the boy had woken up from a month long coma following the accident.
They had been biking at Hikaru Park then. Sho said he had to go back home for a while to pee, and Satoshi had chanted a rude double entendre in response “Sho-chan’s going back home to pee! Because Sho-chan’s a prude who won’t do it in the trees!” over and over until Sho was out of earshot, and was annoyed enough to decide not to come back for his friend anymore.
Satoshi got back home after an hour, bleeding from a head wound and grinning like he didn’t care. He said he fell off his bike, but that it was nothing. He wasn’t hurting anywhere. Sho had screamed for Satoshi’s designated driver, Yama-chan, to take them to the hospital, where they eventually found out that his friend had pedaled the three-minute distance from the park to the mayoral residence on a broken leg, a cracked rib, and a gash on his head that would have rendered anybody else unconscious. Still, the dumbass had kept insisting he was okay, even as the utterly freaked out Sho almost died for the both of them.
He became Satoshi’s external pain receptor after that incident, and nothing short of the apocalypse could drag him away from his friend. Even as Satoshi took to the daredevil’s path with what the reckless boy seriously thought was a superpower, Sho had stuck around. Screaming his guts along the way, but holding on tightly. Trying to drill some sense back into Satoshi’s head, but always somehow ending up on the wrong end of a bungee cord, a parachute, or whatever other vicious contraptions that might just decide, one day, to snap and slingshot him into a super-sized Rorschach blot on the ground.
Even after he left to study in O-Ren City, he had not stopped thinking about Satoshi. He spent all the extras he earned from working part-time at Ogura’s Grill on phone cards to constantly check-up on the man through their friends. Becky had always been accommodating. Ai Haruna had taken much pleasure in scolding him each time. Masaki Aiba had hardly been coherent late at night. And Aya’s husband, Hiro, thinking his wife was having questionable affairs with Sho, had once threatened to wring his neck if he didn’t stop calling.
Coming home just gave his mind reason to fall back into his old habits. Fall back into them flat and crawling on his face.
Sometimes, he did wonder what kind of spell Satoshi had put on him—
“Wanna get in the shower with me?”
And then there were those times when it didn’t matter whether he knew or not. He had always been helpless under Satoshi’s gaze. A bedroom gaze that clearly wasn’t taking ‘no’ for an answer was also not helping his case at all.
“No...” Sho clutched the blanket closer, gulping in his far-gone attempt to regain control of his own mind.
His lover slid the shower door open. “Get in, Sho-chan.”
Satoshi Ohno obviously knew about his one other superpower: the ability to neutralize any thoughts of defiance from Sho Sakurai’s mind.
He had only failed once. Sho had suffered the most for it. Four years had been long enough.
Spell or not, this had always been the way of things. And who was Sho to go against it?
He let the blanket fall and complied.
He had never known the showers in Tempest could feel just right.
◄~ Ж ~►
Sho’s first memory after the accident was of the sight of Satoshi on the hospital bed, looking so serene in sleep he could’ve easily been mistaken for an angel, if not for the tubes attached to his body and the oxygen mask cupped on his face. It was the very first sight he imprinted on. The first and last to give his life purpose.
His lover had already left for his stage play rehearsal, but not before telling Sho to take it easy and just stay home. “Don’t make me have to tie you down, Sho-chan. Just relax. You deserve it.”
But Sho knew he could not relax until he found himself a job. He had tried being idle, but not even ten minutes had passed into a Tarantino movie before he was turning his laptop on and browsing through the want ads in Tempest. Working his body to a near-coma was the only thing he had ever indulged in, guilt-free. And bad habits, they say, are hard to break. Besides, this was the whole point of graduating, right?
He wasn’t going to deny that leaving for O-Ren was partly an attempt to run away from everything. His life with Satoshi had been a little too overwhelming in both good and bad ways. Because while he had always known that he wanted to be with nobody else but Satoshi, it didn’t really seem like Satoshi was that kind of man. And Satoshi had done nothing but rile him up to the very last nerve, until he’s asking himself why... Why does it have to be you, Satoshi?
But everything changed when he showed Satoshi the acceptance letter he received from Hattori University. The man suddenly stopped teasing him for being a scaredy-cat and a prude, and began treating him with something that could almost resemble interest. Satoshi made Sho breakfast in bed, dragged Sho out to lunch in the middle of his classes. The man would even slip out of his stage play rehearsals or movie shoots earlier so they could both go and do things that did not require putting their lives on the line.
On the night before Sho had to leave, Satoshi had set up a romantic dinner on top of the Mago Mago Tower, where he confessed to Sho under the stars, and then asked him to stay, “Please, Sho-chan... Please...”
Satoshi had sounded choked up then. Sho had never found himself in a tighter, more desperate embrace. For the first time he finally understood that Satoshi might not be able to feel physical pain—that the man might’ve turned into the biggest dickwad on earth because of it—but his insides were not made of steel. He could still feel pain on a much deeper level, where it drilled right through the heart, straight into the toughest layers of the soul.
But Sho didn’t stay. Although it ripped his heart apart, he still chose to leave. Because he also didn’t want to spend his entire life as Satoshi Ohno’s partner with nothing to speak of but his own name.
He’s back now, though. He had to give up a possibly prosperous career in the capital city, but he’s sure it was going to be worth it. There were just as many opportunities here in Tempest anyway. And if there weren’t, then at least he was where he knew he belonged.
Because if there was anything significant he learned while he was away, it was that graduating and getting a degree from his dream university had only made him half the man he wanted to be.
Being with Satoshi completed the other half. Sho was just glad it hadn’t been too late.
An ad for a teaching position at Tempest High caught his eyes. Yes. From now on, everything’s going to be just fine...
◄~ Ж ~►
So how the hell did Sho Sakurai end up falling 200 feet in the air? Unsurprisingly enough, it was partly because of Satoshi (and mostly something else he couldn’t yet understand).
The Mago Mago Tower rooftop had always been an important part of Sho and Satoshi’s lives. The building was co-owned by Satoshi’s grandfather, who had been the incumbent mayor of Tempest City for the last eleven years, and who had also been Sho’s guardian since he could remember.
Satoshi moved out of the mayoral residence as soon as he turned eighteen, practically shoving Sho into a box to take along with him to his own unit, paid for in half with his own money and half by his grandfather’s goodwill.
But even though they had pretty much been inseparable since the accident, and Sho had pretty much given in to Satoshi’s every beck and call, and they had pretty much been living together like a typical couple minus all the fluff and sex, there had still been instances when the most trivial things would get in the way of their occasionally peaceful co-existence.
Like when Sho had gotten hooked on one after-school activity after another, coming home so late each night that Satoshi ended up barging into his choir practice one day to drag him out while bluntly telling him in front of everyone that he sounded like a frog who thought it could sing and that he’s really better off at home botching their dinner because he’s funniest that way.
Sho had never been able to show his face in that room since then.
There was also that time when Satoshi tried to sneak into Masahiro Matsuoka’s bar at sixteen, dragging a hyperventilating Sho along only to get a throbbing lump on their heads, each with Matsuoka’s name on it.
And instead of getting daunted and maybe learning a lesson or two, Satoshi just set his sights higher in retaliation and endeavored to infiltrate Junji Takada’s strip club the following year, with a hyperventilating Sho still in tow.
Takada had actually been lenient enough to let them stay. And it didn’t help at all that Satoshi in turn was horny enough to end up in bed with two women not much later on.
While Sho, in sharp contrast as always, had been unlucky enough to end up on his hands and knees in front of a towering foreign woman in an animal-print dress, begging with all his trembling heart and shriveling dick for his innocence to be spared.
The woman took quick mercy on him, read right through him and teased him the entire night about wanting to save himself for the man who was obviously making more than heads and hips roll in the other room for more times than was humanely possible. And they had to bear witness to all of it thanks to the paper thin walls, with the woman obviously enjoying Sho’s discomfort more than anything else.
But these were just flurries at the tip of the iceberg compared to all other instances of Satoshi Ohno acting mischievously, heedlessly, and heartlessly for the sake of drawing out the squeakiest, most overblown reactions from Sho, because the man had apparently taken on a rather twisted crusade to make hell out of Sho’s life for his own selfish cause—
”Whenever you squeak and scream and it almost hurts my head, you make me feel alive, Sho-chan.”
He had found refuge at the Mago Mago rooftop each time. And Satoshi had always followed him there, several minutes to an hour later, to try and calm him down.
Although Sho had never really liked high places, being on top of Mago Mago had always made him feel safe for some reason. Comforted and in control of his world for once. The concrete ledges weren’t high enough to keep him from keeling over at the slightest gust of wind, the faintest vibrations of the earth, but as long as he didn’t get too close to the edges, he knew he’d be fine.
He had always loved that spot behind the door where he could just sit and lean on the wall while looking out at the farthest horizon. Right where sky and ocean met. The sight of it had never failed to relax him. Reminding him just how big the world was, and how much breathing space there was in it, if he could just keep himself still for a moment and actually breathe.
The city nightscape looked awe-inspiring from up here, too. Almost magical, like it belonged to another world. The sparkle of lights reflected on the water, like pixie dusts rising up from the ocean floor, was especially mesmerizing. It was something he could share with Satoshi in silence as their breaths and heartbeats synched together. Until they could look at each other again, smile and know that staying angry was not only impossible, but was utterly ridiculous.
As soon as Satoshi jutted out his chin and began working through his funniest people and animal impressions; as soon as Sho’s boisterous laughter began pealing through the roof along with the crackling echoes of his gleeful claps, everything else would cease to matter. Satoshi didn’t even have to say he was sorry. Sho didn’t even feel like he needed it. And just like that, all was right in their world again.
They were here for a totally different reason tonight, though. Sho did not really understand why but he was suddenly feeling overwhelmed and literally out of breath right after spending the entire afternoon eating out and catching up with friends at the Kinki Kids Diner.
He might have just overstuffed himself with food and talk and laughter, which was so like him. The laughter was mostly because Aiba’s eleven-year-old housemate, Macchan, was there too, fresh out of his classes and as determined as he was four years ago to goof off and make Sho laugh until he’s close to peeing in his pants.
But then, that did not even begin to explain the confused lump of emotions that had slowly, but constantly been building up inside him all day, clogging up his chest and messing up with his head like vague images of a bad dream he did not even remember having.
He did remember feeling like this two days ago, right after he stepped out of the bus that took him back here. As though there was something he was supposed to feel bad about, but he had yet to remember what and why. It was gone before he could even try figuring it out. And he had pretty much forgotten about it until today.
Because now the feeling was more intense. Too real and too sharp to ignore. For some reason, he had started to feel like Satoshi was to blame for something. Everything. And that he was supposed to be doing something about it.
There was also the flitting voice inside his head, calling out his name every once in a while. He felt like he had already heard that voice before, but couldn’t really be sure where. And each time, the voice seemed to get clearer, angrier. Stronger. Like an alien instinct trying to take over his head.
He had come here at the rooftop to try and sort himself out. There must really be something seriously wrong with him if he was imagining voices in his head. What more feeling things he didn’t even have any reason at all to feel—
“Hey.” Satoshi slumped down beside him, grabbed him by the nape and gave him a quick kiss, making his heart race like it was the first time. He didn’t even realize until then that it was already dark and that Satoshi, as always, had come home on the dot like a conscientious husband.
His conscientious husband.
“How’s rehearsal?”
Satoshi shrugged and handed Sho a can of beer from the grocery bag he brought with him. “Okay, I guess.”
Sho reached out to brush a hand through his lover’s tousled blond hair. “Is this for the play?” He had never had the chance to ask the previous night.
Satoshi nodded. “I’ll dye it back to black right after.”
“I think it’s nice.” Running his fingers along the stubble on his lover’s chin, Sho added, “This feels nice, too.”
“Shall I keep them for a while then?” Satoshi looked at Sho like he was giving Sho full rights to decide on it.
And Sho frowned for a while like he was seriously considering it before finally exclaiming, “Keep!”
Their combined laughter pealed through the roof, just as it always did before. Especially after Satoshi showed Sho his newest impressions, of a squawking duck and a drowning monkey, and some of the more familiar ones that almost made Sho choke on his own giggles.
Then Satoshi suddenly stopped fooling around, shot him a piercing gaze that was at once begging and sultry and made him gulp for air. “What?”
Satoshi cupped a hand to his chin, rubbed a thumb to his lips and sent his heart racing with a whispered appeal; mild, breathy and desperate. “Don’t you ever run away again, okay?”
For a moment, Sho didn’t quite know what to say. He wanted to laugh because this was the first time he’s seeing Satoshi in this light and he was already thinking of how he could tease the man about it in the coming days.
But then there’s also the fact that he did have the tendency to just up and run and lose his chance at things he didn’t think he deserved. He’s since learned his lesson, though. “Okay...” He grinned and confidently met Satoshi’s eyes. “No more running, Satoshi-kun.”
For a moment Sho thought the vibrations he was feeling was coming from within him. After all, Satoshi did just give him another quick kiss that sent his heart racing a thousand beats per minute to a faint.
He barely heard the commotion that broke out from below—
The cacophony of screeching tires and blaring car horns that clearly spelled trouble.
The panicked screams that spread out like a pulse surge throughout the city, climbing up the floors of Mago Mago like wildfire.
Satoshi’s breath hitching like he had just seen a ghost.
Satoshi gasping out his name like he was the ghost.
Sho heard none of these at all. Nor was he able to figure out that the tremors under his ass were from the earthquake that had apparently been shaking up the entire city.
It was just like his consciousness was snuffed out for a brief moment right after he had just promised not to run away again.
Like a part of him was protesting such a mindless vow of consistency—
And he was hearing that voice again. Calling out to him from a much nearer place now.
And he was feeling those emotions, too. The ones that had no basis in his present.
And there was fire licking up his skin, building up in his veins. Prickling. Jolting. Frighteningly familiar—
“Sho-chan...!”
He blinked and barely had a second to realize how they had, for some reason, ended up standing on the edge of the rooftop, how he was gripping Satoshi’s shirt with both hands and how his lover was gawking at him and gripping his wrists with equal strength, before the tremors rippled up their legs and threw them off the ledge, straight into a 200-foot plunge.
The shock of the fall broke them apart.
This time, Sho only took a split-second to realize what just happened. Shit!
And then he started screaming.
Everything went by him in a rush as he fell down. Air was buzzing in his ears, hurting his eyes, knotting up his organs. 200 feet of vertical space dwindled into a certain, splattering death on concrete, and all Sho could think about was reaching out for Satoshi. Holding him close. Going through this together, if nothing else.
The ground came up to them in a dizzying rush. Sho reached out, grabbed Satoshi’s hand and somehow managed to pull his lover close. They held on to each other, as tightly as they did when they jumped off Pai Mei Bridge. There was that brief moment of dread when Sho realized there was no bungee cord that’s going to pull them back up this time.
Then he felt a sudden shift in the air. Like it was suddenly billowing around them, enclosing them in a space that was free from the overbearing pull of gravity.
He suddenly felt light. And in control.
A split-second before they hit concrete, a newly awakened instinct within him made Sho pull up. They sailed sideways off the ground before zooming back up into the skies, barely managing to land without sprawling on the rooftop.
The earthquake seemed to have stopped by now, but Sho’s whole body was still shaking too violently for him to really be sure. The emotions he didn’t get to feel while they were falling: the fear of death, the fear of losing Satoshi, the alarm and confusion over what he just did, what had just happened, gripped at Sho’s heart all at once and his mind just froze.
He vaguely sensed Satoshi behind him, gathering his trembling frame in a firm and possessive embrace. “It’s okay. It’s okay,” the man whispered, his voice cracking like he, too, was in tears.
It jolted Sho right back to the moment, gasping like he had just remembered how to breathe. His trembling sobs mixed with his heavy breaths as he clutched on and deflated in his lover’s arms. “S-Satoshi...”
“I’m never losing you again, Sho-chan...”
[D-Day Countdown: T-Minus 12 Days]
Next >>>>>
• Here's a mixtape of the songs that kept me company while I sprinted through this. xD
• Names of places and random references taken from the Kill Bill movies and some Arashi varieties and dramas.
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no subject
Date: 2014-07-28 03:08 pm (UTC)too bad I was too late to participate in the vote because I forget about the time difference ><
and just like I said on the entry,
I just checked the entry and it seems that my comment is still screened, this is wow! you're amazing! and I want more ♥♥♥so thank you so much for your determination to write a sequel for this ♥♥♥
I'll be waiting~ while having fun re-reading this XD
Thanks again ^____^
no subject
Date: 2014-09-16 10:54 pm (UTC)And I am really glad to know that you liked this. I've always wanted to try writing a superhero fic. I guess when I started writing this, it was really more of wanting to indulge myself, lol~! So it's always such a sweet surprise to know that people liked it. Thank you, really.
Though, I've hit kind of a snag revising this installment, knowing readers are interested to know what happens next is enough inspiration to keep moving. I'll keep doing my best. Thank you for always supporting me~! *hugs* <333
no subject
Date: 2014-07-28 11:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-09-16 10:57 pm (UTC)Thank you very much~! ^____^<333
no subject
Date: 2014-07-30 03:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-09-16 11:01 pm (UTC)